BeepBox
General BeepBox.co, simply known as BeepBox, is a popular online chiptune music-making program created by John Nesky, also known as shaktool. BeepBox has gained the reputation of a free browser-based chiptune / synthesized music creation program. Although it doesn't truely emulate pure 8-bit / 16-bit instruments, making it "fake-bit", it is often used to make music with such a feeling. More recently with the 2.3 and 3.0 updates, the program has shifted into a more customizable synth music creator, though with an emphasis on chiptune. BeepBox works by making your changes in the program associate with the URL of the site itself, allowing for songs to be linked and shared. It is suggested due to the length of any given URL that you use a link shortener such as Tinyurl. The BeepBox Twitter regularly retweets songs posted on Twitter. This allows for greater sharing of songs, and the Twitter feed is displayed below the program itself on the BeepBox website. The BeepBox Discord is a hub for aspiring and veteran BeepBox songwriters, as well as general musicians. Regular competitions are held as well as streams. Many share their songs both finished and unfinished, as well as custom instruments made there making the Discord a valuable asset for those aspiring to be a better BeepBox user. Updates/Versions Information gathered on every version with the exception of 3.0 and above is obtained via TheWayBackMachine. Exact dates in which older updates were released are unknown, as such the dates marked with a "~" before them are rough estimates. 1.0: Release Date: Unknown A general description of the features within this version are as follows: * The HUD has yet to have symbols/coloring on the buttons and other controls, the same goes for the menus opened. * There is no Edit Menu, but there are "Clean state" (later known as New Song), Undo, and Redo buttons. * No volume control slider. * There is no Custom Song Size menu. Beats Per Bar is configured in the Song Settings section as a dropdown menu, ranging from "6 beats" to "10 beats". Bars Per Song, Patterns Per Channel, and Instruments Per Channel are hard-coded to 16, 8, and 1 respectively. * The Preferences menu only has 3 options being: Show Piano, Highlight Fifth Notes, and Show All Channels. These are actually checkboxes directly on the interface instead of residing in a dropdown menu. * Most of the scales are the same as they are today with both ":)" and ":(" versions of each scale being available, although a difference exists with what is now dblharmonic being called "gypsy". There's also no "enigma" scale. * There are no notable differences in the keys. * The Tempo menu only has four options being Slow, Steady, Fast, and Hyper. * The Beat Divisions menu only has "3 parts" and "4 parts" as options. (Later known as the Rhythm menu.) * The Volume menu has 6 options being Loudest, Loud, Medium, Quiet, Quietest, and Mute. * The Waves menu gives you Triangle, Square, Pulse Wide, Pulse Narrow, Sawtooth, Checkmark, Two Pulses, Spiky, and Plateau as instrument options. * The Chorus (later known as Interval) menu lacks the Fifth, Octave, and Bowed (added in version 2.1.3) options. ("Choir" is now known as Hum.) * Effect options are: Vibrato Full and Delayed, as well as Tremolo Full and Light. * You cannot create volume envelopes or pitch slides. The three pitched channels have a steady envelope, and the gray noise channel has a fade-out envelope. However, you can drag vertically while placing the note to adjust the whole volume, but not its envelope. * Each pitched channel has its own hard-coded octave range. The first channel has the highest range, while the third channel has the lowest. The Octave Scroll Bar preference option didn't exist back then, so it was always like this. * The noise channel has no settings. It only makes noise similar to the "Chip Noise" preset in version 3.0. Other such additions would be a basic description of how the site works which is later changed, instructions, and an about page. There is a lack of a Twitter feed and description as it was likely not set up yet. The default name of the song made upon downloading is "song", which would later be changed to "BeepBox-Song". Instead of a menu prompting you to be able to change the link before downloading, you would have to change within the download window. Source: https://twitter.com/shaktool/status/1155645015999143936 1.1: Release Date: ~April 16th, 2013 * Volume control slider added. * Edit Menu added. Options are Undo, Redo, Copy/Paste Pattern, Custom Song Size, Export to .wav File, and Clean State. * Custom Song Size menu now has better customization for Beats Per Bar, Bars Per Song, Patterns Per Channel, and Instruments Per Channel. * Octave Scroll Bar preference option added. Preference options were made into a Preferences Menu dropdown box rather than checkboxes. * Enigma scale added. * The rhythms got their dedicated names: Triples and Standard. * Checkmark and Two Pulses were renamed to Double Saw and Double Pulse respectively, as we know them today. * "Flat" was renamed to "Sustain", and Medium was added for both. * Envelope menu added. Options are Binary, Sudden, Slide, and Smooth. ("Binary" is now known as Seamless.) * Fifths and Octaves choruses added. Choir was renamed to Hum. * Effects are now Vibrato Light, Delayed, and Heavy, as well as Tremolo Light and Heavy. * The noise channel now has settings for choosing the volume, wave type (Retro or White), and envelope. * You can now create volume envelopes and pitch slides in all channels, using the vertical-drag methods as we know them today. * Song Settings HUD improved a bit, with no symbols nor flavor yet. 1.1.2: Release Date: ~Oct 26th, 2013 * The addition of a separate Export button rather than it simply being an option in the Edit menu. * Added a button to "Copy URL to Clipboard" which is self-explanatory. 1.1.3: Note: Around this time, a Javascript version co-existed with Beepbox, that was labeled as 2.0. 2.0 and 1.1.x were updated simultaneously until the release of 1.1.5, which then 2.1 took over as the dominant one. Release Date: ~Dec 9th, 2014 * The Shift Notes up and down hotkeys and options (added into the Edit menu) were added. * The "Gypsy" scale name is now changed to "Romani". * More Tempo options added, making the list: Molasses, Slow, Leisurely, Moderate, Steady, Brisk, Hasty, Fast, Strenuous, Grueling, Hyper and Ludicious. * Twitter feed now added along with accompanying text. * Export menu added, upon selecting a pop up will give you options to customize the song before download. You cannot change the name within this, although you may add an intro (song before the loop selected) and outro (song after the loop selected). You may also change the loop count with the maximum value being 4. * Colors of channels changed to what we know today. 1.1.4: Release Date: ~Jan 9th, 2016 * The Tempo and Volume options are now sliders instead of dropdown menus. 1.1.5: Note: This version still can be accessed on Beepbox via this link. Release Date: Unknown * The "Export to .wav" button is now a button called "Export", that may now not only export to .wav, but also .midi and .json. * Romani scales renamed to dbl Harmonic. 2.0: Note: This version of Beepbox co-existed with 1.1.3, and as such, has 1.1.3 as a backbone. Release Date: Unknown * Copy to Clipboard option removed, as browsers could copy and paste with the URL box instead. * Better menus, still default shapes and colors with no symbols nor flavor. * Basic HUD improvements such as better and less cluttered spacing. * "Resume" button changed to "Play" button. 2.1: Note: This version of Beepbox co-existed with 1.1.4, and as such, has 1.1.4 as a backbone. Release Date: ~Oct 2nd, 2016 * A better volume slider was implemented * The Tempo Box from 2.0 was replaced with a Tempo Slider to accompany the release of 1.1.4. 2.1.1: Note: This version of Beepbox co-existed with 1.1.4, and as such, has 1.1.4 as a backbone. Release Date: Unknown * The "Export to .wav" button is now a button called "Export", that may now not only export to .wav, but also .midi. 2.1.2: Note: This version of Beepbox co-existed with 1.1.4, and as such, has 1.1.4 as a backbone. Release Date: Unknown * The background colors of the sliders were changed from white to transparent. * Export option now allows you to change song name within the program, and allows you to select from 3 different file types to export into. Those being .wav, .midi, and .json. 2.1.3: Release date: ~May 25th 2017 * HUD now has better colored menus, as well as a more cleaner look. * Reverb slider added. * Pattern sliders and text now change color based on what channel you are selecting. * Bowed added to chorus menu. * Pause and Play button no longer show text but instead shows pause and play symbols. * Master Volume slider now has a volume icon displayed next to it. 2.2: Release Date: ~Jan 1st 2018 * Custom Song Size option now allows up to 6 pitch channels and 2 noise channels. * "Romani" option in scales changed to "dblharmonic". * Rhythm menu now has four options: ÷3 (triplets), ÷4 (standard), ÷6, and ÷8. * "Binary" Envelope setting renamed to "Seamless". * "Custom Harmony" added to Chorus menu. (Later known as Custom Interval.) * Added Clang, Buzz, and Hollow noise waveforms. Clang and Buzz actually originated from differently-named waves in ModBox, so shaktool didn't create them himself. * Minor text changes. 2.2.1: Release Date: ~Jan 23rd, 2018 * "Pause" and "Play" text added to the corresponding button to the right of the symbol. * Export option removed from edit menu, added as a button. * Previous and Next bar buttons added. * General HUD Organization. 2.2.2: Release Date: ~Jan 23rd, 2018 * Icons now added to menu options. * Clean slate removed from edit menu. * New Song Button added. * Auto Play On Load, as well as Auto Follow options added into the Preferences menu. 2.2.3: Release Date: Unknown * Hints added for FM and Custom Harmony. * FM Instruments added. See this section for more information. * Dedicated FM Example added. (Later replaced with presets in version 3.0.) Brief summary of what FM instruments are: The FM Instrument Type tool allows the user to customize their own waves allowing one to make completely unique waveform(s). The Algorithm allows the user to select how the waves combine, with the sliders adjusting volume, Frequency changing the wave's frequency, the Envelope changing how the volume slope of the wave sounds, and finally the Feedback adding a layer over the waves in different ways and formats. TL;DR: Customizable Instruments. 2.3: Release Date: ~April 20th, 2018 * The font has been changed. 3.0: Release date: June 30th, 2019 * File menu added with New Song, Import, and Export being options. Options in here that were previously in other menus have been removed from those menus. * Export format is now selected with a dropdown menu instead of three separate download buttons. .midi changed to .mid, because some MIDI playback programs don't recognize the extra "i". * MIDI import added. Complex MIDIs may not turn out right, due to the obvious limitations of the pattern editor. * Snap all notes to scale/rhythm, Move all notes sideways, and Detect Key buttons added to Edit menu. * Edit song size option in Edit menu split into three parts: Change Beats Per Bar, Change Song Length, and Channel Settings. * Now able to have up to 3 noise channels. * "Customize All Instruments" option added in preferences. * Tempo now can be changed to any set value from 30 to 300 beats-per-minute rather than presets. * "Freehand" option added in Rhythm menu. This is actually ÷24, to have accuracy with the other four rhythms. * Several custom instruments added such as various Sythetic Strings, Woodwind, and Brass instruments, as well as various synthetic choruses, drums, and percussion instruments, Organs, Sound effects and much more. Old instruments kept / edited / renamed. * "Edit" Section of instrument type menu added where one can randomly select a preset or a generated instrument and copy/paste an instrument. * Custom instruments added such as chip wave, pulse width, harmonics and spectrum. FM is included in this category. * Every instrument is now customizable, including drums. * New drums added, such as but not limited to: Standard Drumset, Taiko block, Chip Noise, Breathing, and more. * Can now make custom drums with the new options: Basic Noise, Spectrum and Drumset. * Filter cut and peak added. * Many new Filter Envelopes. * New and reworded transitions. * Effects are now: Reverb, Chorus, and Chorus & Reverb. * New chords are Harmony, Strum, Arpeggio, and "Custom Interval." * "Shaky" Vibrato effect added. Tremolo Light and Heavy effects were removed from here, and were replaced with "better alternative" tremolos. This update made everything super customizable, and gave a ton of neat presets which you can tinker with to your liking. Things may be summarized in this log as if I attempted to type everything that was added I would probably die of thirst before I finished. Overall a fantastic update. 3.0.1: Release date: sometime in 2019 * Pulse Width modulation and a web app manifest has been added for the home screen. * Share and Copy URL options were added to the File Menu. * An offsite song player with HTML embed code has been added. * A service worker has been added to cache resources for offline use. 3.0.2: Release date: sometime in 2019 * Attempting to draw on the 0 pattern now automatically turns it into the next available pattern. * The first four bars are now the only bars starting with one. The others now start at 0. * The Song player now has a zoom feature. 3.0.3: Release date: sometime in 2019 * A rectangular box selection is now in the track editor for copying and pasting patterns to other places in the song. What could be next * A bar box selection. * A tutorial for beepbox and a music theory primer. * A function to remember recent songs. * A live input when song is paused. * A live keyboard performance. ** The piano would have to play while paused. * A MIDI live input. ** Maybe a live output as well. * Distortion. ** Polytonic Channels could be reworked due to this. * An audio worklet thread. * An "Inspire Me" random song generator. * A link shortener. * Options to export to mp3 or ogg and audio buffer. * A playlist editor. Coming soon to this article: How to use, and FM Instruments. Category:Beepbox